nature an experiment i really know yet why is like so far like it sounds so simple they had no idea

but now the data's i find this not only refreshing but but at some level astounding nature

welcome back to the Nature.

Welcome back to the nature podcast.

This week, what a sniff reveals about consciousness and the relationship between vaccines and antibiotic use.

I'm Charmany Bandelle.

And I'm Nick Howe.

Yeah. I'm Charmany Bandelle. And I'm Nick Howe. Imagine you're walking in a park.

It's a beautiful sunny day with flowers everywhere.

And what a lovely smell.

Now, I'm not just trying to keep you sane during lockdown. Humans often inhale through

their nose when they smell something nice. It's an automatic response. Now researchers think

that this sniff reflex could help doctors assess an immobile patient's level

of consciousness. That's according to a new study in this week's nature. I called up one of the

authors, Anath Arzi, to find out more, and she started by telling me about different levels

of consciousness. In particular, the difference between a vegetative and a minimally

conscious state.

A person that is diagnosed in vegetative state is someone that has a sleep-wake cycle

and the eyes are spontaneously open. However, we have no evidence for any signs of conscious awareness for the self

or to the environment. So we have no ability to communicate with this person and this person

has no ability to communicate. For minimally conscious patients, they have a severe altered consciousness. However, there are

subtle signs of consciousness. We have evidence that this person has some awareness of the

...